Working On An Alibi{open}

[Keilan Donahue]

'That should do the trick...literally,' Keilan thought, the corner of his lips curved into more of a smirk than a smile as he placed one last thing behind a desk in the corner. At first glance, the round, dull-looking object seemed like a simple trinket that someone left behind on the ground. However, come 10:00 tomorrow morning, the 4th year History of Magic class would get a messy little surprise. The Slytherin boy had actually placed a handful of paint bombs around the room, each with a 5 foot rainbow-colored spray. One of his more juvenille pranks, he had to admit, but the year was only just beginning, and it was best to start out slow so he could end with real bang. The paint wasn't event permanent; nothing one or two...dozen scourgify spells couldn't cure.

"In fact, the students should be grateful that I'm actually bringing something interesting to class," the brunette muttered to himself, brushing off his hands as he straightened up. Even after a little over 6 years at this school, and Keilan had barely managed to stay awake in any off his history classes. The material wasn't always so bad, but Professor Binn's voice was still so monotonous that it was almost soothing. 'Adding a little excitement to the room should be the perfect way to keep the runts awake for the rest of the day,' he thought with a light chuckle, walking towards the door.

He turned the handle quietly, and poked his head cautiously into the corridor. Currently, everybody should have been in the Great Hall having supper. During meals was always the best time to set up pranks, because unless the professors had suddenly decided to pay special attention to the Slytherin table, no one would even notice he was missing.
Since the hallways was seemingly all clear and quiet, Keilan shut the door softly behind him and walked quietly back towards the commonroom. Seconds later, however, his stomach let out a small growl.
'The downside? I'll be very hungry tonight unless someone let's me pinch a bit of Honeydukes sweets from them,' he mused with a small frown.

[Stephen DePaul]

[/i] a bold-faced lie. He knew that his sister had been deeply hurt once again out in that forest. Sure, she'd been through a lot. And he knew that she was a tough little girl. But who wouldn't be cut deep by seeing such a vicious battle? And having your father in the middle of it didn't help matters much either. On top of all of this, she had been summond by the Ministry to go on trial to talk about what she'd seen. And he knew that if she went on trail, he couldn't protect her anymore. They would cut into her and make her re-live that forest scene in her mind over and over again. He didn't know if he could manage to keep silent when all he wanted to do was keep her safe. Because he'd done such a bang-up job in the forest hadn't he?

Normally Stephen DePaul wouldn't dream of missing a meal. Seriously, it's free food. And it's everything that you want, God Bless those house elves. So why the hell would you ever want to willingly give up a perfect meal? But tonight was different than every other night. With both their scheduals picking up, Stephen knew that during meals would probably be the only time that he and Schuyler could talk alone. And they did need to talk about how she was going handle the Ministry summoning. So he had passed a note to his younger sister via that Anastasia Masters girl earlier that day, and just before all the students filed into the Great Hall, Stephen and Schuyler met around the corner from the Great Hall.

Stephen was still clad in his black-and-red Gryffindor robes from his last class of the day before dinner, Ancient Runes. Honestly, he really, really dislikes detests his robes. But there had been no time for him to make a mad dash to the common room to throw on some sweat pants before meeting up with Schuyler. And yes, meeting up with his sister really had been that important to him. If you knew Stephen at all, you would know that he is not one who is ever on time. Seriously, if you want him to somewhere for say nine o'clock, tell him to be there at 8:30 and he might be on time. But the differance was, this was something he really cared about.

With Schuyler by his side, Stephen had silently lead her towards one of the many corridors that went out from around the Great Hall. It wasn't that what they were talking about was top secret or anything, but it was something that both DePaul children had decided to keep to themselves. And maybe a few close friends, but you get the idea. "...We should be okay here Schu." Stephen spoke in a slightly nervous voice. He was still uneasy about them being over heard, but he did his best try to cover it up. Schuyler was nervous enough, Stephen could see it in her eyes.

It was then that he heard a low voice, almost a whisper from a little ways ahead of them. Stephen waited a moment, but he heard no other voice or whipser in return to the first voice. His eyes darting forwards, and then meeting Schuyler's, Stephen placed a finger over his lips in a sign to stay silent. Throwing his usual sarcasam back on, Stephen called out "Having a nice conversation with yourself there?" He had no idea who would be out and around during meal time. But it didn't matter, it was just obvious that Stephen and Schuyler were not alone after all.

[ [Katie's going to reply after this post, just so you know] ][/ul][/size]

[Schuyler DePaul]

Schuyler scuffed down the corridor with her brother, hands gripping the official-looking paper and it's envelope. She'd recieved the request a few days before--had even told Stephen about it between Potions and Ancient Runes--but due to classes and the fact that Stephen could be fairly elusive when he wanted to be, she'd only just now gotten a chance to talk to him. And, of course, the whole reason they were able to talk now was because they were skipping dinner. Joy, right?

Well, truth be told, the girl had snuck into the kitchens before she met her brother. Schuyler had recieved a few apples and such from the beaming house elves without question; she'd requested the same thing times before when she was in the middle of an essay and about to skip lunch. The fruit was tucked away in the blue krocheted bag that hung between her right arm and her side, along with a book she had borrowed from a housemate earlier that day [[ see entrance hall thread ;] ]]

Nonetheless, her blue eyes skimmed the letter once more as they walked along, the fact that she wasn't tripping over her own feet giving off the impression that she had indeed read while walking before. The Ravenclaw girl was debating whether she should go to the court hearing or not. Her consience was screaming 'yes, go' while the rest of her wanted to hide in a shadow and just not show up. Then again, that was how she felt about most things, especially after what happened in the forest.

Her Ravenclaw uniform was worn that night, mainly for just about the same reasons as Stephen wore his Gryffindor robes. With the year finally in full swing, classes were constantly giving out homework, and--in fact--Schu's Ancient Runes class had run over, giving students a half-hour before dinner rather than the promised fourty-five minutes.

She didn't look up as Stephen spoke, but stopped with him; her thumb brushed over the scrawl containing the time and date of the trial absent-mindedly. "I don't know what to do, Stephen," she pointed out softly, folding the letter up again with one hand as she finally raised her gaze just in time to catch his sign. She turned her head to look in the direction her brother was calling in, blue eyes wondering as she didn't catch the whisper from the hidden boy.

[Keilan Donahue]

As Keilan strolled casually, he brought two fingers up to his neck so he could loosen up his green and silver tie a little. While his usual style was considered somewhat preppy, even the tie felt a little constricting to him at times. Suddenly, he paused mid-step as a voice echoed down the hallway, and raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise. Apparently he hadn't been quiet enough, but after walking a couple minutes without seeing a soul, he hadn't expecting to meet anybody else skipping the meal.
'Well, as long as it's not Filch, I shouldn't have to worry too much,' he thought with a small shrug to himself. Besides, the newcomer had asked him a question, and it'd be rude not to reply.

The Slytherin boy rounded the corner of the corridor and stepped out into the light of the torches to find himself faced with not just one, but two people (a boy and a girl to be exact). He offered an innocent and friendly grin as he walked a couple more steps in their direction. "Well, I do make my own mighty fine company," he replied to the boys sarcasm with a bit of his own. Now that he was a bit closer, he actually recognizes the older boy as a Gryffindor he had seen in a couple of his classes...something DePaul he believed. Momentarily his gaze flickered to the girl that was on the other side. Her uniform held a Ravenclaw badge, and her face looked a little younger. 'Kind of a cute face as well,' he noted silently to himself, though he knew better than to try anything with another guy right there.

Keilan pulled away from his thoughts, and shifted his stance slightly, honestly feeling a little awkward. The expressions that these two were wearing wasn't exactly what he would described as happy, and it dawned upon him that he just might be getting in the way of something private.
"Well, don't let me interrupt you two crazy kids," he spoke up with a light chuckle. He moved a step backward as if he was going to leave, but suddenly he turned back around, looking back and forth between them. 'Hmm, it's bad to have witness' at the scene of the crime,' he thought to himself, remembering his purpose for being out in the first place.
"Er...if a professor happens to ask you anything about me tomorrow, just pretend that I was never here, alright?" he asked somewhat sheepishly, briefly rubbing the back of his head.

[Stephen DePaul]

[/u][/i] Just hearing the sarcasam in Keilan's voice made Stephen relax just the slightest bit. On most people it would have the exact opposite effect right? Well, yes. But given who Stephen was, it was natural for him to be more at ease with the smart-asses. "Intersting. So you prefer to spend time with yourself than eating?" Ah yes, the sarcastic comments continued to flow. While he couldn't resist speaking back, Stephen knew that he couldn't spend ages going back and forth with the other boy. Not now.

No sooner had Stephen started to inch his guard down had Keilan's eyes shot towards Schuyler. They didn't linger, not even more a minute, but it was obvious to Stephen that he was checking Schu out. Most people would probably be oblivious to his quick glance, but Stephen had done enough of his own quick glances to recognize one when he saw one. Instinctavly Stephen placed his arm around Schuyler and pulled her the slightest bit towards him. At the same time he sent a warning glance towards Keilan that was most likely excentuated in the dark lighting of the corridors. One more glance from that boy and Stephen was ready to use a bit more than sarcasam in his voice.

As quickly as he'd turned to leave, the Slytherin boy turned around and quietly, almost sheepisly, told the two not to mention him to any professors who asked. Seeing Keilan the slightest bit flustered gave Stephen his own reason to grin. He wasn't being a jerk with his grin, really. It was more of a 'I-know-what-you-mean' grin instead of his usual 'Ive-got-you-where-I-want-you' sort of smile. "S'matter, you got some second year in one of these class rooms, Keilan?" Surprisingly, Stephen wasn't actually being sarcastic. His voice wasn't totally serious though either. It was inbetween. Why? Well, probably the fact that he himself had found himself in almost this exact position last year. Damn first year had tried to talk Drifton into believing that Stephen had "Physically assulted" her. Yeah right. She was the one who'd ask him to follow her to the classroom after all. Sure, she was confused and probably just wanted to impress Stephen. And yes they were five years apart. But Stephen had to oblige right?

Anyway, Schu had never heard about that incident, and that's why Stephen had kept his tone light. There was no reason for his younger sister to hear about something like that.[/ul][/size]

[Schuyler DePaul]

Schuyler had ducked her head slightly as another boy showed himself, busying herself with putting the letter back into its own envelope. That was simply how she acted if Stephen was around; she would find something to do and let her brother do all the talking. Why? Well, because Stephen liked to talk to others and Schuyler pretty much didn’t … if she didn’t know the person that well, that is.

She looked up just slightly as Stephen answered, daring a first look at the anonymous other person. Recognizing him as an older Slytherin—mainly due to seeing him hanging out with other Slytherins, it wasn’t like she knew his name or anything—Schuyler quickly moved her gaze back down to the object in her hands, fiddling with the already wearing corners of the envelope.

Of course, she looked up again when Stephen suddenly pulled her closer, only this time her blue eyes landed on her brother. “What?” she asked softly, seeing as Schuyler wasn’t paying much attention and didn’t exactly know what to look for in someone checking another out. –pats her naïve little Schu–

She raised an eyebrow at the boys’ next comments, completely confused now. Of course, that’s what she got for not paying attention in the first place and not knowing how her brother acted when she wasn’t around.

[[ eck… sorry for the late//short reply … xP wanted to throw something up so you guys could reply, but I had jazz band yesterday v.v ]]

[Keilan Donahue]

Keilan's smirk grew a little wider as the sarcasm was thrown right back at him. He crossed his arms across his chest and stood up a little straighter. "Are you trying to call me vain?" he scoffed, feigning a hurt expression. "Though I suppose if that's true, telling you that I'm trying to watch my weight wouldn't help my case much," he added with a small sigh. It should have been fairly obvious that he was only kidding, but if they actually bought it than all the better for him. After all, he couldn't exactly trust either of them to not run off to the nearest professor if they found out why he was actually skipping dinner.

He had to resist the urge to laugh a little when the boy suddenly pulled the younger girl a bit closer to him (it was even harder when the girls response was a look of utter confusion) . He didn't know for a fact if DePaul had a little sister, but the warning glare Keilan was currently receiving screamed "protective big brother". While sometimes he enjoyed a bit of a challenge, he decided to mark this girl as officially off limits. Plus, having a younger sister himself, he couldn't help but hold a little respect for the action...if it were Natasha he would probably act the same (despite the fact that as siblings go, they were nothing alike).

Keilan's smiled wavered a little at the sudden accusation that happened next. The Gryffindor across from him was still grinning, but he thought he had detected a slight change in tone when he asked the question. "Now, now, no need to be so vulgar DePaul," he replied lightly, even if the thought was rather disgusting for him. He hoped to Merlin that he actually did have the name right and he didn't just embarrass himself. Though the fact that the other boy had recognized him in return had reassured him somewhat. "I don't know what the rumors are saying about me, but you really can't believe everything you hear," he continued, his tone still joking as he tried to stay casual and play along. Sure, his reputation as a flirt was fairly famous, but he would never actually do anything to a girl unless they were in a relationship. Who said a Slytherin couldn't be a gentleman in his own right?

Still, a part of him wondered, even as a joke, DePaul wouldn't come to that conclusion. Keilan tried to remember if he had ever heard anything notable about the guy, but nothing came to mind. 'Something to look into later, perhaps,' he mused silently, before turning his attention back to the pair.
"Anyway, do we have an agreement? I imagine your friend's a little anxious to talk to you," he added, gesturing to the Ravenclaw girl who was being virtually silent.

[Stephen DePaul]

[/i][/u]. I kid you not. But around everyone else, he was the exact opposite. He was rude, obnoxious, and most of all full of himself. It was moments like these that it started to catch up with him. Don't get me wrong, Stephen didn't cautiously try and have a split personality. It just sort of.... happened. But times like this, when he had to be both obnoxious and kind at the same time, really put Stephen in a tight spot. And 99% of the time he would just run away when things got like this. But obviously there was no way he could do that now.

It was Keilan's unwillingness to let their little sarcasm battle die that was really starting to annoy Stephen. Obviously he didn't get the message when Stephen had placed his arm around Schu that he wasn't wanting Keilan around at that moment. Or maybe he had gotten the message, and just chose to ignore it. After all, that in all likelihood is what Stephen would have done in the same situation. In response, Stephen shrugged his shoulders as best as he could as he kept his one arm still around his sister. "Depends on how you would want to interpret it." Stephen paused and put a playful smile on his lips "I wasn't really meaning to call you vain, but I like that better than what I was getting to. So we'll go with that."

When Schuyler looked up at him with her big eyes and spoke her innocent little "What?" Stephen's heart literally broke the slightest bit. Her eyes always got to him, no matter what. But knowing that Keilan was still around, Stephen simply looked into his sisters eyes and tried to speak to her with his eyes. He was trying to just resassure her with his eyes. But with his voice, he spoke off-handedly. "Nothing." Stephen just hoped that Schu had gotten the message that he'd tell her later. When there weren't other students eyes around that is.

In response to Keilan's comments, Stephen let out a laugh. "That, my Slytherin friend, was not vulgar. I was simply stating what in all likelihood is true." Though he knew that it probably wasn't true, Stephen plowed on. How did he knew that Keilan wasn't like him in that way? Simple logic, of course. He had heard many, many rumors involving this specific guy over the years. But none of them about him sleeping around, or being unfaithful to any of his girlfriends in the least. Mostly because no one could keep track of wether he and that Moss girl were dating or not. At any rate, Stephen knew that while Keilan wasn't completely innocent, he wouldn't have done something like that. "Of course I can't believe everything I hear. No one can. After all, if they did, I'd be in some pretty hot water." Stephen wasn't about to mention that most of the rumors floating around the school about him were true. No way was he going to reveal that to his younger sister. Stephen in the past had always brushed off Schuyler's questions about what the other kids were saying about her older brother. He simply told her that the other kids were just always looking for a way to insult him. And that they were all lies.

When Keilan once again prompted Stephen to agree to keep his mouth shut about seeing him, Stephen glanced down at Schu. He spoke half to her, and half to the Slytherin boy. "I make no promises willingly, but it's up to Schu. Whadda ya think, should we let him off the hook?" Patting his sisters shoulder, Stephen allowed his eyes to grab Keilan's for a quick moment. Before Schu answered, Stephen winked at the Slytherin, showing him that he would actually keep his mouth shut. And he probably would, unless of course Keilan laid one finger on his sister. Then all hell would break loose, believe you me.[/size][/ul]

[Schuyler DePaul]

Schuyler chewed at her lip as the two boys went back and forth with their conversation; she was clearly becoming either bored or lost in the entire thing … or both. Sighing as she grew more and more uninterested in the boys’ discussion, she moved from Stephen’s side, moving to lean against a wall near where she had been standing just before. The girl pulled the book from her bag, opening the cover and letting her eyes skim the title page.

‘Where the Red Fern Grows,’ a book she’d borrowed from Justin in exchange for lending him her own ‘Great Expectations.’ She had a feeling Stephen wouldn’t ask, that he would assume she’d picked it up from the library like any other book she’d walked around with. After all, it wasn’t often that Schuyler was seen without a novel of some sort.

“I don’t see why not …” she shrugged as she looked up from the book, honestly not seeing why they should rat the boy out for skipping dinner just as they were. Seriously, wouldn’t that just end up in getting her and her brother in trouble as well? Her voice was as intelligent and literal as Stephen’s was sarcastic and figurative, only proving the fact that the siblings were exact opposites around their peers.

[[ eck … >.> sorry for the lateness and slightly ooc post guys xD ]]